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Helmut Fegelein
Fictional Character
The War That Came Early
POD: July 20, 1936;
Relevant POD: September 29, 1938
Appearance(s): West and East
Type of Appearance: Direct
Nationality: German
Date of Birth: Late 19th century
Date of Death: 1939
Cause of Death: Shot in the head with an anti-tank rifle
(Second World War)
Occupation: Soldier
Military Branch: Imperial German Army
(World War I);
Wehrmacht
(Second World War)


Helmut Fegelein (d. 1939) was a Sergeant in the German army during that country's invasion of France during World War II. Fegelein had previously served as an assault trooper in World War I. After the war he was demobilized, but rejoined the army in the early 1920s and served under arms from then on out.

Disgusted by the fact that assault troopers fought at such close quarters that they could be killed very easily regardless of how skilled they were, he pursued a specialty that allowed him to fight at longer range, namely sniping. In 1939 he was sent to duel with the Allied sniper Vaclav Jezek. Though Fegelein was the more experienced sniper by far, Jezek outgunned him, and it was Jezek who won the duel, killing Fegelein.

Before he died, Fegelein developed an extremely antagonistic relationship with Arno Baatz. As Fegelein outranked Baatz, he was able to express his contempt far more openly than were the men of Baatz' squad.

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